Thoughts on politics, law, culture and guns from an eclectic, but mainly center-right point of view

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Income Inequality is an Unqualified Good

Because it is proof of freedom, the inevitable income inequality in America, which any single moment in time reveals, is the furthest thing from a crisis or problem. And, again because of freedom, things change. Behold:

And despite America's lousy government schools and regulations that make it tough to start a business, there is still economic mobility. Poor people don't have to stay poor. Sixty-four percent of those born in the poorest fifth of the U.S. population move out of that quintile. Eleven percent of them rise all the way to the top, according to economists at Harvard and Berkeley. Most of the billionaires atop the Forbes richest list weren't rich. They got rich by innovating.
Rich people aren't guaranteed their place at the top, either. Sixty-six percent fell from the top quintile, and eight percent fell all the way to the bottom.

You know that there are very real problems out there to worry about but the freedom to succeed or fail economically is not one of them. Get your priorities right, lefties.

"The continuation of the technology boom and empowerment of women are clearly far more important than the issue of income inequality. This is one of many reasons why poverty is a much more coherent issue to focus on than inequality. Feminine and technological advances are clearly beneficial, even while making measures of inequality worse. We wouldn't even think of reversing course on these issues in order to reduce inequality. That is because inequality is not, legitimately, a concern, so it tends to conceptually collapse in the absence of strawmen and boogeymen."

Although the trillions of dollars that we've spent on the War on Poverty since the mid-60s hasn't done squat to eliminate poverty (if poverty can be defined as low- or no-income, but able to afford a vehicle, a smart phone, cigarettes, and booze/beer.)

So that whole series of programs oughta be nuked and strategies for helping the truly disabled/needy need to be re-thought.